St Johnstone 0 – 1 Motherwell aet | 16 August 2025

And the ‘Well go marching on…

A 109″ minute strike from Lukas Fadinger confirmed Motherwell’s spot in the quarter finals of the Premier Sports League Cup. Motherwell will play Aberdeen at Pittodrie on the 20th September.

Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in getting this analysis post up. I tend to aim for Tuesday latest, but juggling a small business, work, and the rest is… a lot. We’re working on it though, so thank you for your patience! Without further a do…

How it happened

Motherwell controlled most of the tie without finding the finish in 90. The game tipped on patience and pressure: 60–40 possession, 15–11 shots, 7–2 on target, and a 13–2 corner count told the story of territory. St Johnstone’s tweaks at half-time made it awkward, and they even clipped the post early in extra time, but the winning moment was worth the wait. Elliot Watt slid a pass into Fadinger’s run, and the Austrian opened his body to guide it across the keeper into the far corner. Job done. Quarter-final booked.

A side note on the chaos index: it wasn’t a blood-and-thunder cup tie so much as a slow suffocation. Calum Ward had only two saves to make across 120 minutes; Toby Steward was far busier at the other end. That’s control.

In what must be a first…

Stephen O’Donnell was booked for simulation. When I launched The Steelmen Dispatch I promised to keep the writing as free from bias as possible. Too many fan pages drift into echo-chamber stuff and stop being analytical. That said… it didn’t look a dive. Still, there is a certain gallows humour in the SODfather being done for that offence. File it under “Scottish football oddities”.

What did we learn?

Askou is building a team of patience and resillience

This didn’t spiral into frustration. Motherwell kept their shape, recycled, and counter-pressed cleanly when moves broke down. The substitutions came in waves rather than a panic roll. After the goal, Askou added fresh legs and extra security, and the team saw it out with minimal drama. It all points to a group comfortable in game states where patience is the weapon.

Practical markers:

• • Control without chaos (low shots conceded on target).

• • Fitness to keep the press honest into extra time.

• • Bench minutes spread sensibly, not scattergun.

The fans are buying into the vision

At the Rangers game there were 6,000 Motherwell fans. Around 1,500 made it to McDiarmid. Now we’ve sold out the Tynecastle allocation. Yes, the away end in Gorgie is small these days, but the point stands: people are turning up.

Motherwell aren’t lethal (yet)

There’s a robustness here, but not yet ruthlessness. Across Rangers, St Mirren, and St Johnstone, Motherwell have carved the better chances by volume and territory. That, in itself, is impressive given the variety of opposition styles. The next step is the kill. The longer the Saints tie went, the more it felt like a smash-and-grab was lurking for them. Chance quality is still inconsistent in open play. Sky’s “clear-cut chances” metric sitting at 0–0 underlines that this was more squeeze than slice. Sustained pressure (corners and shots on target) is becoming a signature.

The forward picture is changing

There’s now an actual blend up front. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos gives you pin and presence. Esapa Osong adds chaos and legs off the bench. Callum Hendry brings movement and penalty-box craft. None of them need to score every week if the collective keeps arriving in good zones, but one of them will have to set the tone for the season. If the finishing ticks up even modestly, Askou’s blueprint will cash in.

The Askou ascent is not a sprint to glory. It looks like brick-by-brick football. It is patient, it is organised, and it is quietly ambitious. Which, if we are honest, suits the town just fine. Aberdeen away in the quarter final awaits the Steelmen.